Discussion: Should teams be banned from asking certain topics at the combine?

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Should teams be banned from asking certain topics at the combine?

I've been wrestling with this topic since I read about this. On one hand I get that there should be a line you don't cross when trying to learn about people; but this is less about is or isn't he and more about the reaction.

I personally thing Dee Smith is going a little far here with "finding out what team is was and banning them from the combine".

Personally I think Smith went further than the team, and this is something that players have admitted to being asked for a long time now and it's never been a big deal til now.

this question has been asked for years. no one knows the intent of the question by the person who asks or what type of answer they are looking for. no issue with it.

They are looking at the response. Is the guy calm while answering, does he take a while, does he get angry? It's like when Dez was asked if his mom ever turned tricks to pay rent. They weren't trying to say she was a whore, they wanted to see how he reacted to get an understanding of how trash talk can effect the player.

It's a very interesting question, but I'm wondering if people would ask these things at regular job interviews?

Do you like men/women?
Who did you vote for in the election?
Do you believe in God?

I understand it's all about fit or whatever, but those questions are kind of personal. Personally, if I were Guice, I'd answer it in stride, but everyone is different.

Well 1, due to Title VII it's illegal to ask those during a job interview. The combine, despite the media calling it the biggest interview of your life, is not an interview. It's an aptitude test. So they are not protected under that same rule. You can't equate workouts/combines to anything 99% of the population does to get a job. It's no where near the same. Because for 99% of us, we get to pick where we want to apply to; players do not.

Well 1, due to Title VII it's illegal to ask those during a job interview. The combine, despite the media calling it the biggest interview of your life, is not an interview. It's an aptitude test. So they are not protected under that same rule. You can't equate workouts/combines to anything 99% of the population does to get a job. It's no where near the same. Because for 99% of us, we get to pick where we want to apply to; players do not.

Right and I get that. It's just a weird question to ask among others. I just struggle to see how they're measuring aptitude about whether or not a guy likes guys or if someone's mom was a prostitute. Seems like it could lead to trouble elsewhere (mentally, emotionally, etc.). I can see how asking those questions could lead to controversy.

Right and I get that. It's just a weird question to ask among others. I just struggle to see how they're measuring aptitude about whether or not a guy likes guys or if someone's mom was a prostitute. Seems like it could lead to trouble elsewhere (mentally, emotionally, etc.). I can see how asking those questions could lead to controversy.

Well like I said, it's not if they are or aren't; it's the reaction.

If I ask one player that and he loses it and yells at me, get's angry, and comes close to walking out; you mark down that this guy as a hot head. What's going to happen when someone on the field pushes a button? Is he going to cost you 15 years or get himself ejected?

If you ask another player and he's calm and calculated with his response, that same fear isn't there. He's not likely to lose it like that and cost you yards. This is a guy you can trust in pressure situations.

I got a psychologist friend who helps develop questions for teams and businesses for things like this, and it's less about the actual question and more about your answer.

The closest I can get to a 'real world' interview is when someone asks you "What's your greatest strength and why?" They know what you are good at, they called your other employers and know that. They want to see if you are humble about your answer, if you are cocky, bashful, etc.

Questions are designed to learn more about your reaction than your answer. At the combine teams only get 15 minutes with a player. They will ask about the X's and O's during the official workouts, and not at the combine. They are trying to learn some about your personality at this time.

One of my favorite questions is "Your buddy asks for a blank check, what do you say?"

If I ask one player that and he loses it and yells at me, get's angry, and comes close to walking out; you mark down that this guy as a hot head. What's going to happen when someone on the field pushes a button? Is he going to cost you 15 years or get himself ejected?

If you ask another player and he's calm and calculated with his response, that same fear isn't there. He's not likely to lose it like that and cost you yards. This is a guy you can trust in pressure situations.

I got a psychologist friend who helps develop questions for teams and businesses for things like this, and it's less about the actual question and more about your answer.

The closest I can get to a 'real world' interview is when someone asks you "What's your greatest strength and why?" They know what you are good at, they called your other employers and know that. They want to see if you are humble about your answer, if you are cocky, bashful, etc.

Questions are designed to learn more about your reaction than your answer. At the combine teams only get 15 minutes with a player. They will ask about the X's and O's during the official workouts, and not at the combine. They are trying to learn some about your personality at this time.

One of my favorite questions is "Your buddy asks for a blank check, what do you say?"

Fair enough. I'm not against it personally because, like I said, I'd answer it in stride. But some topics can be sensitive to certain people, which could lead to the whole controversy of "Why do you need to ask THAT question?"

So, for example, if they asked a guy if he liked guys and he says "Yes" calmly and calculatedly. That report gets leaked out and the guy goes undrafted or whatever, you've got a problem on your hands.

Fact is though that teams would be perfectly capable of judging someone's response to questions that don't get personal, like implying homosexuality or denigrating someone's mother.

That's something an official rule should accomplish.

But I'm not sure why it should come to that. Common sense, in my opinion, is that teams shouldn't asked questions that if asked out on the street would result in a bloody nose.

I certainly wouldn't like my team asking questions like that though. There's some value in checking someone's emotionality, but the number one requirement to making it in the NFL is still work ethic. So if I was the one asking questions for a team, that's all I would focus on, like how much time does the player spend watching film, etc. Seems like a better use of limited questions one can ask.